Wine Tasting Circle, Vancouver

Well all, just a moment to toot my own horn~! I've been lucky enough to be able to start my own wine tastings in the beautiful Moda Hotel downtown, in the private dining salon of Uva winebar/Cibo restaurant (www.uvawinebar.ca).

The Chef and The Grape.com

Wine Tasting Circle

A series of wine tastings featuring rare vintages

and unique wines to the BC marketplace.

These tastings are designed for professional wine stewards/sommeliers, wine-merchants, writers as well as the serious amateur. Involving food components rather then full dishes, this is designed to allow participants to evolve their understanding of how flavors will affect, marry and contrast with each other.

Held in the private dining salon of Cibo/Uva @ the Moda Hotel (900 Seymour st) @ 7pm the first Wednesday of each month, participation is limited to 12 people. Payment can be made through the Paypal link @ www.TheChefandTheGrape.com

August 07th, 2013
2000 Bordeaux $99/person

1. Chateau Perron (Lalande de Pomerol)
2. Chateau Saint Yves (Premier Cotes du Bordeaux)
3. Fonreaud (Listrac-Medoc)
4. Monregard la Croix (Pomerol)
5. Croix de Marbuzet (St Estephe)
6. Bernadotte (Haut-Medoc)

Chef Kristof
Journeyman Chef, Wine Steward, FWS (student)
604.339.6921 (cell)

Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival 2012

In February of this year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Media Preview of the 2012 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (http://www.playhousewinefest.com/).

   It was truly an honor to be sitting beside some of the most influential and learned people in the wine industry in Canada including: Sid Cross, DJ Kearney, Mark Shipway, Harry Hertscheg, John Schreiner and about 100 other sommeliers, writers and educators. In short, I was a tad nervous about being such a small fish in a big pool.

   I, of course, had no need to be nervous. BC's wine community is as generous as it is powerful... several hours were spent sniffing, swirling, sipping and spitting, and at the end of it we all felt as if we had come away a little the wiser. My readers must forgive me that I didn't write about this before the Wine Fest, but as many of you know I'm the proud Papa of an 8-month old oenophile. She's the apple of my eye and doesn't she just know it (especially at 3 am when she has nightmares and needs Daddy to sing to her).

   As always, I digress. Let me tell you about the wines~!

MontGras

2009 Amaral Sauvignon Blanc

$17      89 points

http://www.montgras.cl/english/montgras.htm 

• from 14 year old vines in the Central Valley DOC, this wine was 100% stainless-steel aged and fermented
• nose: 
  

    moderately intense, youthful, floral notes and young stonefruit
• palate:   crisp acids with grassy, floral notes - not grassy like NZ gooseberry but more like actually grass/new hay. Very well balanced especially for the price

Vina Santa Carolina

2010 Reserva Sauvignon Blanc

$13     89 points

http://www.santacarolina.cl/eng/index.php

• awarded a silver medal at the Concours de Bruxelles, this wine is stunning value for the money
• nose:   clean, fresh and youthful, a rich and layered floral aromas with exotic fruit such as pineapple
• palate:   clean, crisp and vibrant, minerality sings in the undercurrants of this easy drinking wine which has lovely balance

Undurraga

2008 Terroir Hunter-Leyda Sauvignon Blanc

$23     92 points

http://www.undurraga.cl/Sitio/index_en.html

• grown on alluvial soil with a loamy topsoil, this wine was fermented 100% in stainless steel allowing for maximum expression of terroir (hence the name one imagines)
• nose:   clean and fresh, the youthful exuberance of floral notes is only matched by the elegant and determined mineral backbone
• palate:   clean, crisp and vibrant, the palate on this wine mimicks the nose brilliantly with rich and well developed balance, structure and length

Cono Sur

2009 Ocio Pinot Noir

$65     94 Points

http://www.conosur.com/en/

• what a joy and pleasure to drink quality wine made in an environmentally respectful manner; Cono Sur has achieved the highest ratings for lowering carbon emmisions and organic practices in the vineyard
• carbonic maceration and 14 months of aging in new French oak are two worthy items to note in this world-class Pinot Noir
• nose:   fully intense and developing Chilean bouquet of dark berry and floral notes, old worn leather, roast beef and warm earth terroir
• palate:   a young wine just catching it's stride; moderate+ (red currant) acids, moderate+ (slightly grippy and yet velvet smooth) tannins. Stunning structure, balance and length

Emiliana Vineyards

2007 Coyam (Bordeaux blend)

$30 http://www.bcliquorstores.com/     93 points

http://www.emiliana.cl/

• once again, a stunning example of organic practices in the vineyards translating to transparent wine showcasing it's origins, this is also 100% bio-dynamic
• Wine Access this year gave this wine 93 points as well, and well deserved I say (I ended up sipping this for 3 days at the Festival)
• maturation: 13 months in 80% French and 20% American barrels
• nose:   clean, rich and fully intense with tons of Bordeaux style qualities such as sinful dark floral notes washing over tons of dark berries and a rich dark cocoa undercurrant
• palate:   clean; moderate (raspberry/cassis) acids, moderate+(chalky fine) tannins and a moderate+intense and still developing flavors that are truly in-line with the bouquet. Brilliant structure, balance and length... a steal at $30

Vina Maipo

2008 Gran Devocion Carmenere Syrah

$19     90 Points

http://www.vinamaipo.com/en

• a gold medal winning wine, Carmenere of course is one of the signature grapes of Chile... not identified in Chile until 1994, the viticulturists thought it to be another varietal and now every winemaker worth their weight in salt is putting their best foot forward when it comes to this grape
• cultivated on steep slopes of poor, gravelly soil, this wine was aged 14 months in French and American barrels
• nose: a rich and nuanced balancing act of deep red berries, green bell peppers, dark cocoa and old leather
• palate: as all great wines should be; the palate mimicks the nose with moderate+(raspberry)acids, moderate+(silty) tannins and a rich mineral background. Very good balance, excellent structure and very good length

Carmen

2009 Gran Reserva Carmenere

$22    91 points

http://www.carmen.com/en_index.php

• even though Carmen wines is the oldest recognized winery in all of Chile (having been started in 1850), and one of the largest, Carmen is still working diligently at minimizing it's environmental impact through a diversity of initiatives... perhaps I should have written "because they are the oldest"?
• from the Apalta Valley in the Colchagua, these vines grow on deep red granitic clay soil at high altitude and south facing exposure
• maturation: 10 months in 100% French oak barrels
• nose:   clean and fully expressive of an intense minerality, dark cocoa, almost a molasses-like earthiness, sweet green bell peppers
• palate:   truly in-line with the nose; fully intense (red currant) acids, fully intense (silty) tannins, a fully intense and youthful palate needed 4 or 5 more years to fully come into it's own; rich red berry notes dominate at present. Excellent structure, balance and length

Vina Montes
2010 Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon-Carmenere

$18.50   90 points

http://www.monteswines.com/

• a recent addition to the Chilean winemaking scene (compared to Carmen winery), this estate is a winemakers dream... when they opened in 1988 there were only 14 Chilean wineries exporting. After their first vintage Vina Montes could be said to have single-handed changed the mass mis-conception of Chilean wines: they became internationally renown for Quality.
• in less then 25 year the winery has grown in production from 7,000 cases to almost 600,000 cases. The winery now states that they will categorically not grow anymore so that they can continue to grow quality over quantity
• maturation:   70% of the wine was aged for 6 months in 100% American oak
• nose:   fully intense and youthful aromas of rich red berries, fine cigar smoke, sweet green bell peppers
• palate:   fully intense and youthful, fully intense (red currant and cranberry) acids, fully intense (silty) tannins, the palate very similar to the nose with very good to excellent balance and structure, medium+ length

 Santa Rita

2008 Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon

$20    89 Points

http://www.santarita.com/international/

• this wine comes from approximately 20 miles south of Santiago in the foothills of the Maipo region. The soil is a stony/alluvial mix with a temperature differential of about 20C between day and night in the summer (which is perfect to maintain acidity in the grape)
• maturation:   two rackings and then 14 months in a combination of first, second and third generation oak barrels
• nose:   clean; fully intense youthful aromas of red raspberries, currants, young plums, some beefy notes and an elegant light floral finish
• palate:   clean; fully intense (young blackberry) acids, fully intense (silty and grippy) tannins, fully intense and youthful flavors mimicking the nose. Very good balance, structure and length... hold until 2015 at the earliest

 Cousino-Macul
2008 Antiguas Reservas

$22    90 points

http://www.cousinomacul.com/en/

• oh the humor of it all... I'm re-reading my notes from the Playhouse media preview and laughing because I wrote that this wine has "great aging potential". I had no idea. A few weeks later at the Playhouse tasting room, the broker for Cousino-Macul asked if I wanted to try something extra-ordinary... it had a huge brick rim in the glass, soft velvety notes of old cigar boxes, dried blueberries and saskatoons and dried dark florals. It was the 1995 release of this very wine, aging like Bordeaux
• which makes me laugh again because the founder of Cousino-Macul actually went to Bordeaux (pre-phyloxera) to obtain vine-cuttings to start his vineyard. So really, this Cab Sauv is more Bordeaux (in a way) then Bordeaux is!
• maturation:   12 months in multiple generation oak barrels after fining and filtration
• nose:   fully intense; youthful lush red berries, gravelly mineral notes and a light spice finish
• palate:   fully intense (red currant) acids, fully intense (grippy) tannins, fully intense and youthful flavors mimicking the nose... much more dimension after 8-10 years. Excellent balance, very good structure, long length

Concha y Toro
Marques de Casa Concha 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
$20     91 points

http://www.conchaytoro.com/web/

• Concha y Toro is another bastion of the Chilean winemaking industry. In continual operation since the 1880's, this is also a winery at the forefront of environmental responsibility. Aggressive intiatives include strategic water management among others.
• this is also a winery that in it's origins recruited leading winemakers and viticulturists from Bordeaux to oversee the transition from New World winery to Old World finesse... that investment has been paying dividends for decades now and shows no signs of stopping
• maturation:   18 months in French oak barrels
• nose:   clean; fully intense and developing with rich red raspberries, currants and plums, light herbaceous notes and a stony terroir  minerality
• palate:   fully intense (blackberry)acids, fully intense (silty) tannins, fully intense and youthful flavors mimicking the nose with particular emphasis on ripening red berries and old leather in the background. Excellent balance and structure, long- length... can drink now but best 2014-2018

and last, but certainly not least...

Vina Chocalan

2009 Gran Reserva Blend

$27    93 points     buy this now~!

http://www.chocalanwines.com/

• a vivid blend of 33% Cab Sauv, 29% Syrah, 15% Malbec, 10% Cab Franc, 9% Carmanere, 4% Petit Verdot... this is Bordeaux style blending at it's finest for under $30. I can honestly say that I have never had a more puissant, more stylish, more elegant Bordeaux blend for the money. Ever.
• maturation:   100% in French oak for 16 months
• nose:   fully intense and developing layered violets on stony earth, pencil lead in the background and and elegant warmth leading it all'
• palate:   fully intense (blackberry and raspberry) acids, fully intense (grippy) tannins, fully intense, youthful and developing palate with layers upon layers of the aromas translated to the tongue. Brilliantly executed balance, structure and length; this wine will sing from 2016-2021 and beyond

the Maipo Valley from Santa Rita winery

And so as I stated in the beginning, I was more then a little nervous sitting with my betters at "the grown-ups" table as it were. I had no need to be... everyone was so intensely scrutinizing the brilliantly executed wines that there was no attention left for me (thank the maker). It was educational, it was exhilarating and it was an experience.

   Thank you Wines Of Chile and the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival: you have illuminated us, and we the hungry masses are grateful~!

As always, I welcome your questions and comments.

CINCIN~!!!     SLAINTE~!!!     CHEERS~!!!

Gastown, Vancouver, BC

So the wife and I decided to spend some time with our favorite cousin & hang out in Gastown... walk the historic streets, stopping in at little coffee-shops, winebars & restaurants and do a little "Food & Wine Tour". Wow. What a great city I live in & what a fantastic way to get to know it a bit better...

When was the last time you toured your city?

STOP A

-a funky little cafe called the Acme Cafe. Great service - virtually impeccable (and coming from someone in the industry that's a real rarity). The food was utterly delightful. I had a free-run omelette and my wife had the free-run over easy with sausage & grilled peppers. Esthetically pleasing presentation, a more than reasonable amount of food, excellent quality ingredients - we rarely say this as well, but we really can't wait to go back! They make their own pies, cakes, cinnamon buns & even have Pop Shoppe soda pops!

www.acmecafe.ca

_________________________________________________________________

STOP B

-after a great deal of walking off our fantastic breakfast/brunch, we decided to pop into Pourhouse, which has been written up internationally for it's brilliantly old-school, classic cocktails. I've had the pleasure to meet one of the owners before, Mr Jay Jones, and even followed his blog during the construction of the restaurant. Really great guy - very approachable - and I've enjoyed our chats... Jay certainly knows how to create a hospitable environment. I had a glass of wine with a plate that was written as "slow baked beans with grilled sausage & crispy pork belly". What I ended up getting was a full pasta bowl of beans! I mean seriously, this was enough for 2 grown men after a day working the field... it did go excellently with the wine I chose though.

WINE A

clean visual;

• garnet centre
• cherry brickish rim indicating little age (2007)
• moderate++ legs indicating 13% alcohol or plus

clean nose; moderate++ intense notes

• hot alcohol!
• lots of leathery oak
• cigar box
• classical Malbec aromas of blackberry, plum & dark chocolate
• rich Argentinean terroir: I don't know how to explain that, but when you've had enough Argentinean wine - you know it

clean palate; 0 dryness, moderate+ acids, moderate++ tannin, full- intense flavors of

• rich and robust Malbec flavors predominate this wine; blackberry, plum, dark chocolate
• some definite spiciness due to the Shiraz in the blend
• tannins are chewy, but not as rough as one might expect from so young - this is due in large part to the winemaker and his unique methods (see the article in www.wine.com )

moderate+ body, very hot alcohol (14.5% and you feel it), excellent structure

Great wine. It wasn't until now that I realize this is a 90 to 91 point wine disguised by a $15 to $20 pricetag. Wow! Delightfully rich in flavor, and surprisingly soft in it's tannins for so young, I think this wine drinks well now - but will be superlative in another year or two. It really does love grilled meats and as I said - was delicious with a cassoulet-like dish.

2007 Clos de Los Siete (48% Malbec, 28%Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Syrah)

by Michel Rolland in the Oru Valley, Mendoza, Argentina

________________________________________________________________

STOP C

Nuba Lebanese Restaurant

-we stopped in here almost by chance... a little restaurant downstairs that has changed hands many times over the past 10 years, it was just begging to have someone snoop around (*grin*). Wonderfully attentive staff, we were inspired immediately by their selection of freshly squeezed juices which anyone in Canada will tell you is far too rare.

My cousin had fresh raspberry juice, which I suppose was good, but couldn't tell because it disappeared so quickly! My own drink was raspberry juice with Flor de Cana rum, pomegranate juice, lemon juice & a sugar rim. Fantastically refreshing, this opened my palate and quenched my thirst... serve this on a hot summer day and I'll order a dozen!

www.nuba.ca